“Thanks for helping me, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy praised her friend as she waved a hoof towards the clear skies. “The weather looks wonderful.”
“No problem, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, glancing at Fluttershy's hoof for a second before looking towards where it motioned to. “Heh… I’ve really outdone myself today.”
“I’ll say you have.” The two pegasi looked across the scenery that decorated the outside fields of the cottage. The animals around the garden were happily playing in the fields or with each other. Thanks to Rainbow Dash, the weather had been prepared in an environment that was very relaxing to them.
A few of the animals had taken a break and hopped over towards Fluttershy's legs. They rubbed their rustling furs along her hooves, relaxing in the gentle breeze that blew on their bodies. Fluttershy could see that Rainbow Dash was looking at them in awe. They were so cute, even she couldn’t resist.
Fluttershy took a few steps past Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be following her motion closely. Fluttershy lifted her hooves off of the ground to fly towards one of the lightly drizzling clouds. Rainbow Dash followed behind her closely.
“I don’t know how you do it, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy continued as she rubbed a hoof along one of the calm clouds that was giving a sprinkle. A ferret was standing under the cloud with its mouth open as the drizzle soaked its fur. Fluttershy looked back to Rainbow Dash and continued. “I can’t get these clouds to listen to me like you can.” Rainbow Dash seemed to be staring at the cloud for a few seconds before her eyes shifted back to Fluttershy.
“Oh, well, I guess it’s like how the animals listen to you better, heh…” Fluttershy smiled at the response. It was odd, but it sounded like Rainbow Dash was being a bit more quiet than usual. Fluttershy didn’t mind this though.
Fluttershy floated to a nearby tree branch where a box of feed had been placed. She took it in her hooves and started hovering along the grass. She was floating down to where a bunch of animals were gathering, hopping up and down as they waited for her.
“Aww, these critters are eager to eat, aren’t they, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked as she touched her hind hooves down on the grass. Rainbow Dash wasn’t responding though. She was just floating there, watching the animals attempt to crawl up Fluttershy’s hooves.
Fluttershy opened up the box of feed with her mouth. She bent forward, lifting one hind leg off the ground so that she was standing on one hind leg while she poured the feed on the ground for the animals. Thanks to her wings, she was able to keep herself balanced on one hoof.
The animals left their gathering spot around Fluttershy’s hooves and scurried to where the food was being dropped. All except one left for the food, making Fluttershy giggle. Fluttershy dug into the feed with a fore hoof and took out one piece of celery for the mouse that stayed behind. She bent down for the mouse, bringing the piece of celery in her hoof towards the mouse, to which the mouse eagerly went to eat off of her hoof in response.
Fluttershy turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash, who was still floating and being unusually quiet for some reason. She could see Rainbow Dash's hooves stretching oddly far apart as her mouth hung slightly open in a drooling trance, watching Fluttershy feed this little mouse.
Fluttershy felt a little odd about this. Ponies don’t normally eat animals. So why was Rainbow Dash displaying this strange hunger? Well, she decided to do something about it before it started happening.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash, I’m sure you’re hungry now after all that hard work,” Fluttershy started as the mouse finished eating. “Would you like to join me for dinner here?” Rainbow Dash took a few seconds of just floating there. Her eyes suddenly shifted to Fluttershy after realizing she was called on.
“Oh, uh… dinner? Yeah sure, Fluttershy… heheh…” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck nervously after responding. Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth as she couldn’t help but giggle. Rainbow Dash was probably starving, but was too embarrassed to mention it.
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Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were inside the cottage, sitting on opposite sides of each other at a dinner table. Their plates were each prepared with a carrot dog along with a side of oats.
They ate to their contents, but Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow Dash was eating slower than she normally did. She glanced up towards Rainbow Dash a few times. But every time she looked, Rainbow shifted her attention away from Fluttershy and back at her own food.
For a pony who she thought was starving, Rainbow Dash wasn’t eating very fast at all. Fluttershy tried to focus on her own food, trying not to embarrass herself from her own assumptions.
Fluttershy pushed the food around her plate, frowning a little bit. She thought she felt something gently brushing against one of her hind hooves. She moved her hoof around, but felt nothing, making her believe that it was just her imagination.
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash started. Fluttershy was about to take another bite of her carrot dog, but her hoof stopped when she heard Rainbow Dash call her name.
"Hmm?" Fluttershy asked as she looked away from her food to look at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash wasn't responding though. She just stared in a trance at the carrot dog that Fluttershy was holding. The staring was making Fluttershy more uncomfortable than usual.
After a bit of staring, Rainbow Dash made a violent blink before she retreated her vision back to her own food, using a hoof to circle the oats around her carrot dog.
Fluttershy looked between her carrot dog and Rainbow's carrot dog, trying to see what was wrong. There was more food on Rainbow Dash's plate than on Fluttershy's at the time, so she couldn't figure out what was wrong with Rainbow's appetite.
Fluttershy set her carrot dog back down as that feeling she was imagining earlier felt like it returned. Her nerves were attacking her a lot more than usual, and for some reason, it was Rainbow Dash causing it with her own odd behavior that related to her appetite. Fluttershy really felt like she had to say something, or at least ask what was wrong.
"Rainb-" Suddenly, something hard hit her hoof right when she spoke. “AAHHH!” Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she let out a yelp of surprise and fell backwards.
“AAAHHHH!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she jumped in surprise at Fluttershy’s yell, her hooves slamming into the underside of the table, causing their plates to rattle. Fluttershy had fallen onto the floor as their screams together had echoed around the cottage.
“Oh Fluttershy! I’m so sorry! I…” Rainbow Dash tried to apologize, but tripped over her words. Fluttershy panted heavily, her wide eyes staring up at the ceiling as she lay on her back with her wings sprawled out. Her thoughts were racing inside her head. Rainbow Dash came to her vision, attempting to offer a hoof to lift her up. But it only lasted for a second before Rainbow Dash ended up retreating nervously.
“I… ohh…” Rainbow Dash made a slight groan as her words continued to stutter. “I should just go. I’m so sorry, Fluttershy.” Before Fluttershy was able to recover her breath, Rainbow Dash was already flying towards the front door.
When Fluttershy heard the door open, she shakily picked herself back up on her hooves. She managed to catch Rainbow Dash looking at her while she held the door open.
“Thanks for the dinner, Fluttershy… it was… oh…” Rainbow Dash shook her head before she started flapping her wings. “I’m so stupid…” That was the last thing Fluttershy heard before Rainbow Dash closed the door and flew away.
Fluttershy stared at the door for a while. It was a lot more quiet than usual around the cottage. It was so quiet that a wind blowing around the cottage could somehow be heard. Her body made slight shudders as her mind scrambled, making it feel like she had to remember to even breathe.
“What… was that…?”
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After that dinner moment had ended, Fluttershy did her nightly routine to go to bed for the night. While she was sleeping, the images of that moment with Rainbow Dash filled her mind. Her body instinctively tossed and turned in her sleep as those images created her dream.
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Fluttershy was happily feeding her animals like she normally did. She trotted along the garden, throwing out food for each critter she passed by, to which each sets of feed landed right in front of them.
While Fluttershy was doing this, her eyes caught something that shifted her interest. She thought she saw something running and entering inside one of the bushes in her garden. She trotted over to that bush, thinking that it was one of her critters being shy during feeding time. When she stopped in front of the bush, she giggled a bit as she reached a hoof out towards it, attempting to call the little critter out.
But before Fluttershy's hoof made contact with the bush, something else came and gently touched her fetlock. She looked to the side and noticed a shadowy figure standing next to the bush. It was gently bringing her foreleg towards it. Fluttershy made a small gasp when she noticed that the shadowy figure was the shape of a pony. It looked a lot to her like Rainbow Dash.
The shadowy pony carefully brought Fluttershy's fore hoof up to itself. It then lifted one of its own fore hooves up towards Fluttershy's. Her breathing intensified, unsure of what was going on. The figure slowly brought its own hoof to move towards hers, until they eventually connected.
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Fluttershy's eyes shot open when her hooves connected with that pony. Her body didn't jump, but she was quite startled by that sudden event. She realized that she was still in bed.
"Oh my..." Fluttershy sat herself up on the bed as she put a hoof to her forehead, trying to wake herself up from that moment. "What a strange dream..." She blinked her eyes a few times as she took a glance out her window. It was still early in the morning, but she figured that since she was awake, she might as well get started on her morning routine.
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The morning had gone by like it usually did. Fluttershy was now feeding her animals their breakfasts, such as seeds for the birds, acorns for the squirrels, and leaves for the ferrets. Things were going fine, but when feeding one particular mouse, things started changing.
"Here you go little one," Fluttershy said as she used a hoof to bring a slice of cheese towards the mouse just outside of his little mouse hole. But when the mouse went to reach for it, Fluttershy backed her hoof away nervously, causing the mouse to move back in a bit of a sad confusion.
“U-umm…” Fluttershy stuttered, unsure of why she was suddenly nervous. She decided to extend one of her wings, placing the cheese on one of her wing tips, and motioning it towards the mouse. The mouse hesitantly reached forwards again. This time it was able to grab the cheese.
Fluttershy wasn’t sure why she did that, but at least now the mouse was happily eating its food. She let out a smile, watching this mouse returning back to its hole. But seconds later, she felt something rub against one of her hind hooves.
“Ahh!” Fluttershy thrusted her hoof off the ground, turning herself around immediately towards whatever startled her. It was a squirrel trying to grab her attention, who also fell backwards due to Fluttershy’s reaction. “Oh my… um… sorry, I… um…”
Before Fluttershy could find words to use, the squirrel brought itself back up. The squirrel hopped in place a bit, making a chatter as it pointed towards another one of the critters in the cottage. It seemed to be an otter who was lying on its stomach, trying to reach its back.
“Oh my, do you have a sore back little guy?” Fluttershy asked as she walked up to them. Both the squirrel and otter nodded, the otter scrunching its face in pain while doing so. “Don’t worry, I’ve got just the thing.” Fluttershy walked closer to the otter, bringing a hoof up to do her work in massaging.
But for some reason, Fluttershy hesitated. “Nngh…” Her hoof retreated back to her own other hoof before it made contact with the otter. She couldn’t understand why, but she just didn’t want to touch the otter with her hooves, and she couldn’t use her wing tips for this because they wouldn't be able to apply enough pressure. The two critters looked at her in concern.
“Um… I’ll be right back.” Fluttershy lifted her hooves off the ground, using her wings to take her to the kitchen. “...What’s wrong with me…?” she asked herself as she searched her utensils for alternate methods. “I’ve never had to resort to this before…”
Fluttershy used her muzzle to grab a spoon from one of her kitchen drawers. After taking it out, she flew back to the two critters who had requested her help. The otter was still lying in its usual aching position while the squirrel moved away to give the otter and Fluttershy some room.
“Here, let me try this,” Fluttershy said while she held the spoon’s handle in her mouth. She used the other end to rub against the otter's back. She never had to resort to this before, so she had to be careful with how she motioned the spoon.
The otter seemed to somewhat enjoy the contact at least. The scratching with the edge of the spoon is what made the otter stretch with a delighted squeal. The otter must’ve had a really bad itch to go along with that ache.
Fluttershy let out a smile hearing the delighted sounds coming from this otter. She continued to scratch this otter with the spoon. But then, she felt something rubbing along her hoof as if it was trying to walk around her legs.
“Ahh!” Fluttershy jumped from that contact. This caused her to accidentally scrape the otter violently, making the otter yelp in pain. Fluttershy lost her grip on the spoon as she noticed that it was the squirrel from earlier that had rubbed on her hind hoof.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy said to the pained otter. She looked over to the squirrel. “Please don’t touch me there… I…” The squirrel hurried over to its otter friend with a worried look on its face. The otter barely moved around in its painful state. “Oh…” Fluttershy let out a small groan of frustration.
The squirrel helped its otter friend up to stand, looking at Fluttershy with a regretful look. It seemed like the squirrel was blaming itself for what happened. It walked away with its otter friend, possibly looking for a comforting resting place, realizing that play time had to be skipped for today.
Fluttershy looked at her fore hooves in deep worry as she floated back down to the ground. There was a strange tingling feeling going on around all four of her hooves that she didn’t notice before.
“What is wrong with my hooves?” Fluttershy asked herself. She couldn’t tell what this tingling was, but it was making her hooves more sensitive than they used to be. She tried to think as she sat down on the ground after floating down enough.
“This all started happening when…” The images of that dream started entering Fluttershy’s mind. All she could think about was when that figure connected its hoof with her own.
“But, why did I have that dream...?” Fluttershy thought deeper about what happened yesterday. She looked away from her hooves to look around the scenery. She didn’t have any trouble taking care of her animals yesterday, but something happened yesterday that gave her quite a fright.
When Fluttershy’s eyes met the table, she remembered what that was. Rainbow Dash had touched one of her hind hooves from under the table. It was an accident, and Rainbow Dash had hastily apologized for it before bolting out. But for some reason while Fluttershy was thinking about that moment, her body yearned in a strange way. Her mind was wandering into detail of the exact moment that it happened.
“Mmmh!” Fluttershy shook her head, trying to get that out of her mind. But the tingling feeling on her hooves wasn’t leaving her. “Why am I feeling this?” She got back up on all four hooves, trying to walk the feeling away. But it just wouldn’t go away.
“Maybe I should ask Rainbow Dash…? She might know…” Fluttershy stopped herself, changing her walking direction to its opposite. “Oh, but she was just as startled as I was… Maybe that’s a bad idea.” She changed her direction again, this time heading for the door. “But how will I know what is wrong with me?” She opened the door, heading outside of the cottage as her anxiety continued to increase. “No, I shouldn’t do that to her. I’m just not going to ask.”
Fluttershy walked towards her garden as her body continued to heat up from her debate. She could see that many of her animals were playing in the garden.
Normally Fluttershy would be happy to see them play, but things changed when they all turned their attention to her. They were all running up to her, but Fluttershy winced when they got close. She instinctively flapped her wings to get her hooves off the ground and out of the little critters’ reaches.
“Ooh…” Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together nervously as she saw those animals putting on confused faces. She shook her head again, taking a deep breath as she tried to concentrate.
“I’m not gonna ask her. I’m not gonna ask her.”
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Fluttershy stood on her hind legs, using her fore hooves to pour a box of feed down on the grass for the animals. But when the critters started scurrying to her, she yelped and lifted herself off the ground, causing her to drop the box.
“Oh…” Fluttershy attempted to reach her hoof out to it, but retreated when all of the animals started piling on the box. She rubbed her hooves together nervously as that tingling feeling continued.
“I’m not gonna ask her. I’m not gonna ask her.” Fluttershy’s voice continued to pitch higher every time she said those words.
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After feeding a few birds, one of them wanted to greet Fluttershy in a closer perspective. Fluttershy brought a hoof out so that it could stand somewhere while it showed its affection. But Fluttershy withdrew her hoof in fear before it landed, causing the bird to plummet towards the ground after the sudden disappearance of a landing zone. Fluttershy winced when it hit the ground with a thud.
“I’m not gonna ask her! I’m not gonna ask her!” Fluttershy’s voice went faster as well as increase its pitch.
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Fluttershy knocked on the front door of a giant cloud house high in the sky, shifting her weight with her hooves as she waited for an answer.
“I’m not gonna ask her! I’m not gonna ask her!” Fluttershy lost control of her voice, letting out a gasp of breath each time she said those words. Her body kept shivering as that tingle continued to torment her. She couldn’t take it anymore, but she continued to tell herself.
“I’m not gonna ask her! I’m not gonna-...” The door opened. “AAAHHHH!”
“AAAAHHHHH!” Both pegasi jumped in their own screams when they caught sight of each other. Rainbow Dash scrambled her hooves as she tried to regain her balance. “Fluttershy?! What are you doing here?!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy started, trying to keep her heart beat under control. “I need to talk to you, I, AHH!” She was interrupted when Rainbow Dash grabbed onto her sides, dragging her inside her cloud house and closing the doors immediately.
“Fluttershy, if this is about what happened yesterday, I’m sorry!” Rainbow Dash frantically said as she released Fluttershy from her grip, unable to control her voice. “Please let's not talk about it!”
“Um… okay!” Fluttershy said as she picked herself back to her hooves. “But can we please talk about it!?” Rainbow Dash’s head moved back in surprise.
“What!?”
“Please Rainbow Dash! Something is wrong with me!” Fluttershy was just as shocked as Rainbow Dash was, talking quickly and uncontrollably.
“No Fluttershy! I can’t do that!” Rainbow Dash zipped behind Fluttershy. “I said it was an accident and I shouldn’t have done that!” Rainbow Dash started shoving Fluttershy roughly and quickly deeper into the cloud mansion.
“Aha! But Rainbow-” Fluttershy’s hooves were roughly sliding against the soft cloud floors, being pushed by Rainbow Dash in the direction of the bedroom.
“Fluttershy! We aren’t talking about it! We Can't talk about it! We just Can't!” Rainbow Dash continued to push Fluttershy against her will, taking her immediately towards the bedroom. Despite what they kept saying with their words, their actions were doing something completely different.
They were gonna talk about it.